"Dinner service... fondue set... Cuddly toy! Cuddly toy!" With its conveyor belt game that prompted viewers to shout at their televisions, The Generation Game was one of the most popular shows on BBC1 in the 1970s and 80s.

Now the programme is set to be brought to a new generation of iPhone users. The BBC wants to develop a series of game applications for the iPhone and other mobile web devices, based on some of its most famous entertainment shows.

The BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, has been in talks about how it can exploit its brands on smart phones. An app game based on The Generation Game's famous conveyor belt is among those being considered, along with quiz shows such as Mastermind.

BBC Worldwide, which is charged with creating spinoffs from BBC shows to help support the publicly funded wing of the corporation, has already developed paid-for iPhone apps for the Radio Times and hit car show Top Gear.

Now it wants to exploit the BBC's rich history of entertainment programmes to try to generate revenue from new technology and gaming platforms.

BBC Worldwide has already done a deal that included a Top Gear track and driver The Stig in the PS3 game Gran Turismo, which launched last year, but it now wants to utilise the growing popularity of smartphone apps.

"We've done this a bit before but it's not been as rich because we've not had things like the iPhone before. We're trying to take all these assets and see what we can do with them across all platforms and, in fact, just recruited someone to head up our new gaming business, Robert Nashak."

Danker said of The Generation Game as an app: "We've been talking about it. It could work well as a memory game, particularly the conveyor belt! We're also talking about taking on quiz shows. However, these are still aspirations and we have things like rights still to consider."

Mobile phone operators' interest in BBC content was proved earlier this week when, for the first time, buyers from both Nokia and Apple's iTunes attended BBC Showcase – BBC Worldwide's annual international television market in Brighton.

It is likely that BBC Worldwide will charge users to download its gaming applications based on entertainment shows.

The Generation Game first aired in 1971, hosted by Bruce Forsyth. Each week, it featured four couples from different generations of the same families who competed in challenges such as pottery- or meringue-making.

It climaxed with the conveyor belt game, in which one finalist had to memorise a series of household goods as they travelled past.

Larry Grayson and Jim Davidson also presented the series, which was one of BBC1's biggest Saturday night shows, pulling in around 25 million viewers at its peak.

It also spawned Bruce Forsyth's catchphrases: "Didn't they do well?" and "Nice to see you... to see you nice".

The BBC axed The Generation Game in 2002 but tried to revive it a couple of years later, filming a pilot episode with Paul O'Grady. However, it was never aired.

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